The ghostly mask thought it had seized the opening created by Fang Xuan’s exhaustion.
In its state of wild joy, it tore through the layers of baleful energy and pounced toward the seemingly defenseless Fang Xuan.
It did not care that its weakness was exposed.
It was certain that this human cultivator was at the end of his rope.
That vast amount of spiritual energy could not be faked; the previous explosion had undoubtedly cost him dearly. Now, entangled in baleful energy, his aura was clearly fading.
As long as it devoured his soul and drained his blood essence, it would not only recover its losses but also reach a higher level of power.
Closer, closer still!
It could almost smell the fragrant aroma of Fang Xuan’s vibrant soul.
It greedily opened its invisible, massive maw, prepared to completely consume the blood-stained figure.
Fang Xuan, whose aura had been flagging, finally lifted his eyes.
But in those eyes, there wasn't a trace of fear—only mockery.
The drying blood at the corner of his mouth now seemed like a silent sneer.
In the next instant, a torrent of spiritual energy, even more majestic than before, erupted from his seemingly dry meridians.
With a flick of his wrist, the baleful energy coiled around him snapped into pieces.
Releasing his spiritual power like a sky-covering shroud and using the sliver of cold sword momentum he had comprehended as a guide, he merged it with the black sword's own tyrannical and fierce aura.
Facing the hideous ghostly mask that was inches away and filled with shock, he delivered a single, simple sword strike.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
The ghostly mask’s pouncing motion stalled in mid-air, and the wild joy on its face, formed from baleful energy, instantly solidified into shock.
"You... played me?"
.......
As the core of the entity was extinguished by the sword, the massive crimson barrier it had sustained began to dissolve rapidly.
Several cracks appeared in the dark red sky, and pale moonlight cast through the fissures, illuminating the dilapidated and ruined valley below.
In just a few breaths, all the remaining baleful energy vanished into the world.
Fang Xuan stood his ground, his black sword pointing diagonally at the floor, with a faint trace of baleful energy slowly dissipating from the tip.
He panted slightly, his face looking exceptionally pale under the moonlight, and his breathing was somewhat unstable.
It appeared as though that last strike had indeed exhausted his remaining strength.
Mission accomplished.
That last burst was a bit intense, but the results were excellent.
......
He did not look at Ning Xian, who was collapsed in the distance. Instead, his body swayed as if he had lost even the strength to stand.
The black sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. Like he had used up his last spark of life, his eyes slowly closed, and his body slumped backward.
As he fell, his fingers quickly brushed over several acupoints on his chest and abdomen.
If he was going to faint, it had to be real; the act had to be complete.
Especially when dealing with a senior sister who was as sharp and insecure as she was, he couldn't leave a single flaw.
Even though doing this... felt a bit dishonest......
It was a last-minute decision. Otherwise, with the senior sister’s cold personality, when would they ever... cough... hehehe.
This broken system kept nagging him, saying that a perfectly trained subject should be utterly devoted to their master and seek to be... cough... closer... It kept dangling rewards in front of him.
However, the current progress was indeed too slow. In two months, they had only held hands.
While Shen Chen was only at the Golden Core Realm, the sect leader and grand elders above him were all in the Transformation Realm.
He still needed to speed up the training progress; otherwise, he was afraid something might go wrong.
Though he heard that raising someone like this... was also prone to trouble......
But... the senior sister was so cold and aloof, it probably wouldn’t... right?
......
"Thud."
He slowly collapsed onto the cold, messy ground. Dust rose slightly, and then all was silent.
Only the night wind stirred his disheveled long hair and his tattered robes.
......
As the baleful energy vanished, the moonlight remained cold.
Ning Xian sat slumped at the edge of where the barrier had been, almost thinking she was hallucinating.
One moment it was a desperate sea of blood swallowing everything, and the next, the malevolent entity was annihilated and the barrier had crumbled.
She lifted her head blankly, her scattered gaze struggling to focus, looking through the settling dust and drifting bamboo leaves toward the center of the battlefield.
Then, she saw Fang Xuan.
His long robes were shredded and covered in blood and dust. His hair was loose, masking half of his pale face.
The sword in his hand lay beside him, devoid of any light.
He didn't move.
"Fang... Xuan......"
......
Midday the next day.
The sound of birds chirping came from outside the window.
The sun was bright, spilling through the window.
Fang Xuan opened his eyes groggily. The sunlight was too piercing, so he squinted, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
He was sleeping in his senior sister’s bed, covered by her quilt.
His entire body was wrapped tightly in bandages.
From his chest to his arms, and even his legs seemed to be covered.
But... the injuries seemed to have healed.
He could only carefully adjust his state to the 'newly awakened from serious injury, weak and powerless' setting.
He kept his breathing light and shallow, maintained a pale complexion from blood loss, and even kept his eyes open only as tiny slits.
Yes, he was still in Ning Xian’s room.
Everything according to plan.
He began to scan his surroundings.
The room was very quiet, and the sunlight outside was beautiful; it seemed it was already midday the next day.
However, the swaying shadows of the bamboo that should have been cast on the window paper were gone. The bamboo forest outside must have suffered heavy losses during the previous night’s 'catastrophe'.
Ning Xian was not in the room.
Fang Xuan slowly propped himself up to sit, his movements 'difficult' and 'sluggish,' fully portraying the powerlessness of a seriously injured person.
The quilt slipped down, revealing the somewhat excessively wrapped white bandages on his body.
Wait, what...!
Why were there even bandages inside his undergarments?!
.......
After a short while, his stomach gave a growling protest.
He was hungry!
Between the big battle and the acting yesterday, his energy consumption had been quite significant.
He struggled to move off the bed and walked with unsteady steps to the window, pushing it wide open.
The brilliant sunlight poured in instantly, making him instinctively squint again.
The scene outside the window made him freeze.
It wasn't just the bamboo forest that had suffered.
The originally quiet and elegant courtyard was now almost unrecognizable.
The open space where he usually practiced his sword was completely destroyed, and the herb garden had not been spared. Those already crooked medicinal herbs were nowhere to be found.
And most notably......
It was his own bamboo hut, right next to Ning Xian’s main house.
His little hut, which he hadn't even lived in for long, had been split open by a massive diagonal crack from the roof to the walls, nearly divided in two.
Looking at the traces of the fracture—sharp and clean—it must have been split by his own sword qi.
He hadn't seen clearly yesterday and had sliced through his own home.
Well, this was perfect; he wouldn't even need an excuse to delay fixing the roof now.
......
Ning Xian was gone, likely looking for food.
After going through such an ordeal last night, she had sustained some significant injuries herself.
He gazed at the ruined yet sun-drenched courtyard, listening to the faint sound of the stream and birds in the distance, feeling quite comfortable.
Next would be time to reap the rewards.
And to think about how to use his status as a casualty and his homeless situation to further advance his great training endeavor.
He turned around and slowly walked back to sit on the bed.
Now, he just had to wait for his senior sister to come and feed him.
Rate on N.U.
